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Yesterday Stacey Aragon’s husband David Hansen posted on his Facebook page that his wife of several years had passed after a long battle with cancer. She was only 39. She was being treated for her illness for ten years, not telling me about it until much later after she joined us in July of 2009. She served as a contributor for social networking and fundraising until October of 2011 when she was promoted to the core committee, our first woman added to our committee roster. She only had a brief stint there from November 2011 to June 2012 because her cancer and treatments got more serious and she would need to move cross-country for viable health care in another state. But she remained as a senior contributor from November of 2013 until she passed, even sharing an auction notice on Facebook for us ten days before the end. She handled several duties over that time like updating our site’s Inker Resources section and Database, Fundraising, Nomination Committee Coordinator and a Volunteer Network. From this list she wasn’t able to significantly get the last two projects off the ground because her condition kept deteriorating. One of the projects she was experienced about and wanted to create was a multi-tier membership system so that we could collect annual dues with an incentive system. That was not to be. She would wrap up her final days sharing all of our announcements and even attending some conventions in her area with Dave because it got her away from all the angst of reality and she was able to use it as therapy, even collecting donations from artists to ship to us. She so enjoyed helping and giving to others that it made her feel better. This, her husband, and her connection to friends/family/loved ones via the internet were her lifelines and what I believe kept her fighting for as long as she did. She would often say that the Inkwells were her family. She was as close to family as anyone in my organization until recently with my present spokesmodel Hailey. As her availability lessened I never removed her from our team credits and in her last couple of years I listed as her position on our brochures, website and books as “heart & soul”. That’s where she touched me and so many who knew her. I will be dedicating the Heroes Con live awards ceremony to her and give a brief tribute to honor her. I owe her at least that much for her gifts and making my non-profit better than it was when she joined it. Rest in peace and thank you, Stacey. Your friend, Bob Almond

The Inkwells send their condolences to David Hansen and her loved ones who are mourning her loss. I posted the following on my own Facebook page yesterday while sharing David’s announcement:

It happened at 3:01 this morning that after a decade of being sick and battling to survive, this world lost one of the most beautiful and selfless souls I had ever met. Stacey Aragon was a special, one of a kind spirit who had no bounds to her generosity, compassion, kindness, sweetness, strength and courage. I never had the honor to meet her in person but through nothing but some phone calls and numerous messages I knew all I needed to know over the years. That we were blessed to know her and to know her was to love her. She deserved better. Rest in peace, my friend. Thank you for all you did for my organization which you treated as your family, and may your husband and loved ones find peace, joy and love from your memory. We’ll most-assuredly miss you.

When she joined the committee I asked her for a bio and photo for the website committee page. She sent me several images of her when younger but this is the one she wanted to use and we did. Others are below: After her Ms. Inkwell: (top-bottom) pre-school/wedding/her with her cat Bermuda/and the rest pics from the 2000s.A rare look at Stacey as a custom designed Ms. Inkwell which she volunteered to do while going to a show to represent us and collect donations. Her collar and tie may look weird but she explained that her treatments made her skin very sensitive to certain materials. I regrettably don’t recall the show she was going to or the year.

Inking is the art of enhancing an illustration through the means of redrawing pencil lines with ink and its related tools. This enhancing, or 'ink editing', would elaborate in the areas of, but not limited to, weight, space, depth, definition, contrast, texture, composition and design. The Inkwell Awards promotes this often overlooked and under-appreciated art form by serving as a source of education for inking and recognizing excellence and achievement of individual artists working in the field of comic book sequential illustration.